Petunias in the Summer
by TeddyBear334
Summary: When Severus Snape makes an unexpected appearance on the Evans' doorstep, it throws Lily's differences from her family into sharp relief.


The petunias on the mantle were the most perfect shade of pink. Mrs. Evans had chosen them from the garden she kept behind their neat little house and placed them beside a few artfully arranged strings of lavender. The cut crystal cast delicate little prisms onto the sitting room and its occupants. The carpet was very white and the walls were creamy yellow.

Petunia had been engaged for months, but she was pleased to see that her mother's excitement had not yet waned. Mary Alice was bent over a book from the florist's, her dark eyes on an especially pretty arrangement. "I'm only worried that it might be too boring, Petty. What do you think, Lily darling?"

Lily stopped inspecting the fibers of her armchair and looked at her mother. She had lost interest somewhere around the second page, but she made a valiant attempt to pretend otherwise. "Oh, I like that one, Mum. It's so colorful."

Mary Alice glanced down at the arrangement, which was composed primarily of lilies of the valley and white roses. Lily turned pink and stood so quickly that she nearly knocked over Petunia's ice water.

"I'm going to get some food. Would either of you like some?"

Mary Alice fixed her daughter with a winning smile. "No thank you, Lily. I'm quite full from dessert. Petunia?"

Petunia was watching her figure and said so. Lily hurried down the hall as if she had only narrowly escaped something absolutely horrible. Petunia did not lament this lose of company, in fact she wished she could lock Lily in the kitchen until Petunia had left for her honeymoon. Or better yet, go back to her stupid school. Lily had finished her final exams two weeks ago and immediately taken up residence in her old bedroom. Petunia thought that she must have been sulking about something, because she always seemed to be on the edge of a horrible temper and spent all day reading old books and writing letters. She had largely left Petunia alone, but Petunia still resented the loss of household equilibrium. It had been Petunia and her mother cooing endlessly over wedding decorations, and then suddenly there was another person in the house, someone else for Petunia's mother to fuss over. Petunia had been extremely irritated with her mother when the latter decreed that Lily ought to be a bridesmaid in her own sister's wedding. So far, Lily had been failing at her bridesmaid duties as well as her sisterly ones. She had not helped Petunia's other bridesmaids assemble party favors and it was only with great reluctance that she came with the other girls to pick out the dresses. Petunia's wedding was only a fortnight away, and she did not appreciate her sister's selfishness.

Lily's mother had scarcely resumed her recital on the merits of white roses when there was a knock at the door.

If Petunia had been hoping for some neighborly well-wisher, she was sorely disappointed. Her least favourite person stood on the doorstep, his dirt-encrusted trainers covering the "W" and the "C" on the Evans's aged welcome mat. His tiny eyes were slightly obscured by the lank black hair that stuck to his pale and pockmarked skin. Petunia stared at his black trousers and heavy jacket, both of which were entirely wrong for the unusually hot weather.

"What do you want?" said Petunia, staring at Severus Snape with hearty dislike.

Severus stared down his giant nose at her as if Petunia was some sort of blonde insect. "Is Lily here?"

There was a rustle from couch, and Mary Alice appeared at her daughter's arm. She squinted at Severus, his name and origin lost among her daughters' countless childhood playmates. She seemed to recognize him vaguely, for she called, "Lily, there's someone to see you!"

Mary Alice stepped back slightly to let Severus onto the sitting room carpet, but he only rocked back and forth on the welcome mat. Lily came in from the kitchen, brandishing a mug of tea and a biscuit. At the sight of the visitor, the biscuit tumbled to the crumb-free carpet.

After a moment's hesitation, she stomped up to her guest. "What are you doing here?"

He rocked back and forth so quickly that Petunia rather hoped he might gain too much momentum and fall sideways into the begonias. "I need to talk to you about something."

The look Lily gave him was venomous enough to make Petunia's breath catch. Petunia had never seen her sister's bright eyes that narrowed and her mouth that small and thin. "What do you want?"

Petunia's mother peered at them, anxiously playing with her blouse. "We'll leave you two alone then. Pet-"

Lily didn't take her gaze from Severus. "No, Mum, this won't take long."

The older woman floundered for a moment, then remained where she was. Petunia screwed up her face, determined to show Severus exactly how much she detested him.

Severus did not seem very happy to be on the Evans' doorstep, but there was something imperceptible in his beady eyes. It looked almost like fear. "I heard that you didn't apply for training at St. Mungo's."

Lily blinked, apparently surprised at this line of questioning. "Did you expect me not to join up, Severus?"

Lily's old childhood friend twisted his face into a grimace. "I suppose not. You would do anything to be with your precious little fiancée, wouldn't you, Evans?"

If Lily was surprised by the use of her surname, she didn't show it. She drew closer to the much taller Severus. "What would you have wanted me to do, tag along to one of your meetings? Be your little mudblood pet?"

"Lily, you have to understand-"

"What? Severus. What could I possibly be missing?"

"IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE YOU THAT NIGHT!" His voice was so loud that Petunia glanced out the window to see if he had attracted the attention of the neighbors. "I'M THE ONE WHO- _I_ TOLD ROSIER TO GO TO THE RAVENCLAW TOWER INSTEAD."

The shout careened off of the cream-coloured walls and hung stiffly in the sitting room air. Lily did not speak and for a moment, it seemed as though her bony knees might shoot out from under her. Instead, her shoulders jutted forward and her posture curved. It was as if she was sinking into herself. She stared at the carpet.

Severus looked ashamed of his outburst. "I can protect you," he offered, much quieter this time. He too stared at the patterns of light on the Evans' carpet.

Lily pulled back her shoulders and glared up at Severus. She seemed to grow several inches as she glared at him, her face steely and cold. "I'd rather-" she took a quick breath, and when she spoke again her voice was perfectly even, "I'd rather die in the Order than live under Death Eaters."

Severus's face twisted and he took a step forward, his slightly acrid smell permeating the little sitting room. Petunia's mother shuttered slightly, whether from Snape's proximity or odor, Petunia didn't know. He bared his yellow teeth at Lily, but she didn't look away. Her chin, more prominent than Petunia's, jutted out. "You're too smart not to know what the Order-" he spat the word, "-is doing. You know that they're going to lose, don't you Lily? If you stand with them-"

Lily hissed, and the noise was vehement enough to halt Snape mid-sentence. "I'll stand with Dumbledore and James." It was a malediction.

Snape gave a icy little laugh. The sound of it made Petunia feel cold and uncomfortable. It was terrible and oddly high-pitched. Lily looked fearful for the first time since Severus had arrived on the doorstep, and she took a little step back. The steeliness had faded.

Snape took a step back, and Petunia hoped that he might leave. But he spoke very slowly and deliberately. "Yes, well, we all know how loyal you are to James and his stupid little friends. And you're loyal to the Prewitts too, aren't you? And Dearborn and Fenwick and McKinnon? And if I'm not mistaken, I think you're loyal to the Longbottoms as well."

Lily turned a horrible color, and Severus wheeled around and stomped down the garden path. When he had nearly reached the street, Lily called out an explicative after him. Snape didn't turn, and the word reverberated against the overheated black pavement. Lily slammed the door and made eye contact with Petunia for a brief second before she was sick all over the sitting room floor.

This display seemed to galvanize her mother, who tried to tug a white-faced Lily toward the sofa. Mary Alice was shorter than her youngest daughter, and when Lily did not seem to move, the older woman's arm bent awkwardly as she patted Lily on the head. However, Lily managed to extricate herself from her mother's grasp and made for the stairs.

She stood on the bottom stair and stared at pair of them over the scratched banister. Two pairs of round brown eyes met a pair of almond-shaped green ones before Lily Evans squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, Petunia thought that her eyes only seemed even brighter and more unusual. "I'm sorry about the tea, Mum-" she gestured toward the forgotten tea and biscuit on the floor, "-and I'm sorry I was, ah, sick."

"It's quite alright dear," said Petunia's mother faintly.

Lily shot up the stairs, leaving the pair of them alone in the sitting room. Petunia's mother looked lost and older than forty-seven. Mary Alice moved toward her eldest daughter and touched Petunia's thin hair. There was not an inch difference in their heights. After a moment, her mother retreated to the kitchen for cleaning supplies. Mary Alice's faded blonde curls fell into her eyes, hiding fresh tears.

Petunia hurried upstairs, resolving to call the florist before he closed for the evening. There was knock at Petunia's door several minutes later. Petunia knew that knock and pretended as if she hadn't heard it.

The door opened anyway, and Lily hovered on the threshold. "Hello, Petunia."

Petunia pretended to be interested in a pricing sheet.

"I'm sorry about what happened."

When Petunia didn't answer, Lily pressed on. "I was thinking that I shouldn't be in the wedding."

Petunia turned in her chair and glared at her younger sister. "Consider your invitation revoked then," she spat.

Lily stared over Petunia's head, at the neat little family photos in their neat little frames on Petunia's bedroom wall.

"I'm sorry," said Lily. Her voice was not nearly as vitriolic as Petunia's had been. "I'm not very good at this."

"Good at what?"

Lily gestured toward downstairs landing. "Being your sister. Or mum's daughter."

"I suppose not," said Petunia stiffly. She noticed Lily's clothes for the first time. She had changed into a t-shirt and jeans, and a frayed rucksack was slung over her bony shoulder. "Are you leaving then?"

Lily bit her lip and nodded. "I've got to tell Mum. James is coming by in a few minutes." She rubbed her thumb on the underside of her bare ring finger, as if she was used to the comforting feeling of cold metal. It was a gesture that Petunia often made without thinking, and it reminded her of something Snape had said. "You're getting married, aren't you? _He _said so."

Lily nodded again. She looked almost ashamed.

"Good." Petunia Evans walked across the bedroom and stared straight at the girl with the rucksack. "Good," she said again. "You should go off with him and have a wedding with your freaky friends. You don't belong in this house with us. You make Mum worry because she can't understand you, because you're nothing like her and you're nothing like me. You remind her of_ him_, and it scares her."

Lily bowed her head. They were both bony and long-limbed, but Lily alone had inherited almond eyes framed with copper-coloured hair. But there was something in the way Lily carried herself that marked her as an imposter, something in the wrinkles on her forehead when she was concentrating and the way her chin jutted when she was angry.

"Go down and tell Mum you're leaving," said Petunia harshly. "She's heard it before, hasn't she?"

Lily shut her traitorous green eyes, but it was no good. In the fading afternoon light, Petunia Evans watched her sister stumble down the garden path. She closed the shades and Lily Evans was no more.


End file.
